Why Korea?

Apparently, it is strange to people that a white middle-class American girl with a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology would pack up and move across the world to teach English. This entry is intended to explain why.

When I was young, back in 1989, my family moved to Seoul, South Korea. My father was in the Air Force, so we lived on the military base there. There are stacks of photos showing my two-foot-tall mini-self standing in front of ancient architecture, cultural events, and crowded by small Asian children as though my blond hair and white skin was a petting zoo display. Some of those pictures are seen in the banner for this page--yeah, that little kid is me. I know, who wears overalls with a lace-collared shirt? This girl does, that's who.

So I've lived in Korea, but I don't remember anything.

In fall of 2007, a friend invited me to his daughter's birthday party--her first birthday, which in Korean culture is a Big Deal called the Tol. It celebrates the kid's survival for one year. Going there reminded me that my brother had a Tol (we were still in Korea when he turned one) and it reminded me that I didn't remember anything about it. And I decided that it kind of sucked to tell people "Oh yeah, I lived in Korea for two years" only to have nothing to say when they ask "What was that like?"

That semester, I decided to look into this ********* scholarship thing. I originally wanted to go to Italy, since my Italian heritage gave me a pretty direct interest in the country and I'd already taken three semesters of Italian language classes. Cleeearllly that didn't happen.

I ended up watching Korean movies with my Korean friends (it's like having a personal translator giving you on-the-spot subtitles!) and enrolling for Korean 001--Beginner Korean Language and Culture. I also started English tutoring for visiting professors from Korea as part of an exchange program. Annnnd then I applied for the ********* English Teaching Assistant position in Korea.

There was some other boring stuff in there about not being satisfied in graduate school, nor medical school, nor biopharmaceutical industry, but that didn't involve a picture of an adorable family with the sweetest, cutest little Asian children, so I opted for that version of the story instead.

And that is why I wanted to go to Korea. Now, enjoy some ridiculous Konglish that should have gone in the last post, but I forgot:

You are good job!